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Manchester City stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to 8 points, with an emphatic win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium. Kevin de Bruyne's star-studded season continued with a neat left-footed strike to give City the lead, before Sergio Aguero doubled the advantage from the penalty spot following Nacho Monreal's shove on Raheem Sterling.
Alexandre Lacazette came off the bench to pull one back for the visitors, but the two-goal cushion was soon restored when Gabriel Jesus tapped in from David Silva's square pass - though the latter appeared to be offside when receiving the pass.
The result condemns Arsenal to their fourth defeat in six league games on the road this season, while Manchester City recorded a ninth successive league victory - a club record.
Here are the talking points from an entertaining encounter at Manchester:
#5 Manchester City sharp, rampant and ruthless for large periods
Manchester City's performance at the Etihad was another chapter in what turns out be a potential landmark story authored by Pep Guardiola this season. Right from kick-off, City were prowling on the counter-attack every time Arsenal gave away possession.
Led by the influential Kevin de Bruyne, the swiftness with which Manchester City exploited gaps in the Arsenal midfield and defence was mind-blowing to watch from a neutral point of view.
Every Manchester City player who was on the attack sought to find the perfectly needled pass for a team-mate in order to produce a goal-scoring opportunity. The precision with which every City pass found its target was a handful for Arsenal's defence - with Francis Coquelin deployed in an unfamiliar centre-half role.
The runaway league leaders were able to square balls across Petr Cech's goal on regular occasions.
If not for City's lacklustre finishing, they would have been out of sight by the end of the first half. However, their display sends alarm bells ringing across the Premier League and Europe's elite as well.
#4 Raheem Sterling's poor finishing a worry for Pep Guardiola
Though City have been able to demolish opponents with ease this season, one aspect that Guardiola must address is winger Raheem Sterling's composure in front of goal. The 22-year old is clearly not the finished product, as he fluffed at-least three massive opportunities to score and put the Gunners further on the back-foot.
Silva's square pass was put on a plate for Sterling to tap home, but he was unable to get a touch, although he appeared to be pushed by Sead Kolasinac. A similar move on the half-hour mark resulted in the Englishman fluffing his lines with Cech beaten yet again.
But the most glaring miss - one which got Pep Guardiola animated - was just before the half-time break, when Arsenal were carved open on the half-way line after conceding possession. Sterling was sent clear, with Sane accompanying him and only Laurent Koscielny retreating for cover.
Sterling was expected to round Koscielny and lay the ball for Sane to sweep home, but instead overhit his pass across the penalty area and out of play. With competition for places fierce, Sterling must be more effective when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net, especially in such big games.
#3 Arsenal are vulnerable on the break
Arsene Wenger's side must be given credit for taking the initiative of having a go at the Premier League table-toppers right from the first whistle. Sanchez - amidst shaping rumours that he may be headed towards Manchester City when the transfer window re-opens in January - looked industrious on the ball, looking to force his way into a very organised Manchester City defence.
Mesut Ozil - also seeking a move away from the Emirates in the winter - picked out a bunch of neat passes early in the game to give Arsenal a positive start.
Despite showing purpose in attack, Arsenal's major frailty was exposed each time they lost out on the ball - the counter-attack. City looked to punish their opponents on the break every time, owing to the vision of Kevin de Bruyne and the pace of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane in the wide areas.
Francis Coquelin looked very uncomfortable in a defensive role, rather than in a holding midfielder's position as he was caught out of position on every counter-attack. Arsene Wenger's side could have considered themselves extremely fortunate to have still been in the game at the interval, owing to City's wastefulness when it came to finishing.
#2 Arsenal take advantage of City's drop in pace early in the second half, but cave in soon after
City took their foot off the gas in the early stages of the second half, Raheem Sterling's dashing run which led to the penalty the only time they created a meaningful chance. Despite going 2-0 down, Arsenal didn't let their heads drop and duly took advantage of City just dropping down a gear or two.
The visitors were finding gaps in City's defence, getting wing-backs Bellerin and Kolasinac to press up the pitch and get involved. Substitute Alex Lacazette - whose omission from the starting line-up surprised many owing to his recently working partnership with Sanchez and Ozil upfront - looked sharp and made no mistake in sliding the ball through goalkeeper Ederson after being set up by Aaron Ramsey.
Arsenal's fruitful spell, however, was brought to an abrupt halt by substitute Gabriel Jesus, who made no mistake in tapping in from David Silva's low ball - although the Spaniard should have been flagged offside in the process.
City had raised their tempo once again and restored their two-goal advantage with the same ruthlessness as they had displayed during the first half.
#1 Are De Bruyne-inspired Manchester City already title-winning material?
Based on the level of performances shown by Pep Guardiola's side this season, notably against sides from last season's top six, Manchester City look to already be running away with league silverware.
Apart from a 15-minute spell in the early stages of the second half, Manchester City were always operating at a higher tempo than the Gunners in terms of ball movement, pass accuracy and chances at goal. Kevin de Bruyne was at his inspirational best, locating his targets with passes as precise as a surgeon handles his needle.
His one-two with Fernandinho before slamming the ball past the reach of Petr Cech corroborates his world-class status. Sergio Aguero shows no signs of a goal-drought, while Jesus continues to chip in with goals even though they have been coming off the bench of late.
If defending was Manchester City's Achilles Heel last season, even that issue looks to have been taken care of, with younger and quicker fullbacks replacing ageing material in Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy. John Stones has shown a marked improvement and is finally beginning to justify his 50-million price tag.
If City continue to maintain this level week-in and week-out in the Premier League and the likes of de Bruyne and Aguero step up every game, there is no reason why City are early and firm favourites to get their hands on a third Premier League title.
